The secrets of the ‘high-potential’ personality

Competitiveness

Risk approach (or courage)

Curiosity

Ambiguity acceptance

Adjustment

Conscientiousness

The truth, of course, is a little more nuanced. It turns out the same traits, in excess, may also impede your performance, and the real secret to success may be to know exactly where you fall on each spectrum, and how to make the most of your strengths and account for your weaknesses.

Middle School Science Minute

The Advantages of Biodegradable Products

I was recently reading the February, 2018 issue of “Science Scope,” a magazine written for middle school science teachers, published by the National Science Teachers Association.

In this issue, I read an article in the Disequilibrium section, “The Advantages of Biodegradable Products,” written by Todd Hoover. The article helps teachers design a 5E Unit to help students visualize the differences between polystyrene and starch-based packing peanuts.

WE MADE PLASTIC. WE DEPEND ON IT. NOW WE’RE DROWNING IN IT.

Random Thoughts . . .

Personal Web Site

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]]>http://middleschoolmatters.com/?feed=rss2&p=342301:00:53Shawn and Troy share some thoughts on writing, open source, advisory and more. Dave has a great project on biodegradeble products.Shawn and Troy share some thoughts on writing, open source, advisory and more. Dave has a great project on biodegradeble products.advisory, MSM, PodcastTroy Patterson, Shawn McGirrnonoMSM 389: The Penguin Defensehttp://middleschoolmatters.com/?p=3416
Sun, 06 May 2018 13:58:03 +0000http://middleschoolmatters.com/?p=3416

ZenTangles

Middle School Science Minute

Take a Stream Selfie

I was recently reading the February, 2018 issue of “Science Scope,” a magazine written for middle school science teachers, published by the National Science Teachers Association.

In this issue, I read the Citizen Science article, “Take a Stream Selfie for Science,” written by Jill Nugent. The article describes a project that maps streams across the United States and bridges an existing gap in water quality data. For more information, please visit:

Strategies:

Positive Reinforcement

As the largest middle school in the state of New Jersey, Lincoln Middle School has struggled at times with student discipline. Chronic tardiness and fights on campus have been a problem for this school, which serves 1,800 7th- and 8th-grade students.

Traditional approaches to student discipline haven’t worked to change the school’s culture. Not only has punishment been largely ineffective as a deterrent, but it also erodes the critical relationship between students and educators. When teachers are constantly meting out punishment, their relationship with students becomes confrontational instead of supportive—and this isn’t the type of environment in which students can learn most effectively.

Save the Planet Board Game

Save The Planet Board Game is free and open-source DIY cooperative board game. In the Save the Planet Game you and your family and friends can work together to save the planet to win, while learning how to save the planet in real life. The beginner option is appropriate for children 4 and up and the advanced option is a fun game for teens up to any age. This game is open-source so you are encouraged to build on it – make it better, add more good deeds, make a local deed list and make more advanced derivatives. Have fun!

Answer Garden

Sourcera

Search museums, archives and libraries for images, embed them in slides at the click of a button! Also available for documents.

Highlight text in your slide and use it to search many of the world’s largest and richest archives. Find images that you can re-use, view licensing information, embed them in your presentation complete with attribution, caption and link to source with a single click.

Docs Teach

DocsTeach is a product of the National Archives education division. Our mission is to engage, educate, and inspire all learners to discover and explore the records of the American people preserved by the National Archives.

The National Archives and Records Administration is the nation’s record keeper. We save documents and other materials created in the course of business conducted by the U.S. Federal government that are judged to have continuing value. We hold in trust for the public the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights — but also the records of ordinary citizens — at our locations around the country.

The Baseball Study by Recht and Leslie

18 Free Image Sites and Tools for Schools

A picture is worth a thousand words, but it might also be worth a thousand dollars if your school gets hit with a copyright violation claim. This happens to schools every year as students or teachers inappropriately use an image that they do not have the rights to.

Amazon Shareholder Letter

Six-Page Narratives

We don’t do PowerPoint (or any other slide-oriented) presentations at Amazon. Instead, we write narratively structured six-page memos. We silently read one at the beginning of each meeting in a kind of “study hall.” Not surprisingly, the quality of these memos varies widely. Some have the clarity of angels singing. They are brilliant and thoughtful and set up the meeting for high-quality discussion. Sometimes they come in at the other end of the spectrum.

High Standards

Understanding this point is important because it keeps you humble. You can consider yourself a person of high standards in general and still have debilitating blind spots. There can be whole arenas of endeavor where you may not even know that your standards are low or non-existent, and certainly not world class. It’s critical to be open to that likelihood.

Recognition and Scope

What do you need to achieve high standards in a particular domain area? First, you have to be able to recognize what good looks like in that domain. Second, you must have realistic expectations for how hard it should be (how much work it will take) to achieve that result – the scope.

Let me give you two examples. One is a sort of toy illustration but it makes the point clearly, and another is a real one that comes up at Amazon all the time.

Perfect Handstands

A close friend recently decided to learn to do a perfect free-standing handstand. No leaning against a wall. Not for just a few seconds. Instagram good. She decided to start her journey by taking a handstand workshop at her yoga studio. She then practiced for a while but wasn’t getting the results she wanted. So, she hired a handstand coach. Yes, I know what you’re thinking, but evidently this is an actual thing that exists. In the very first lesson, the coach gave her some wonderful advice. “Most people,” he said, “think that if they work hard, they should be able to master a handstand in about two weeks. The reality is that it takes about six months of daily practice. If you think you should be able to do it in two weeks, you’re just going to end up quitting.” Unrealistic beliefs on scope – often hidden and undiscussed – kill high standards. To achieve high standards yourself or as part of a team, you need to form and proactively communicate realistic beliefs about how hard something is going to be – something this coach understood well.

In the handstand example, it’s pretty straightforward to recognize high standards. It wouldn’t be difficult to lay out in detail the requirements of a well-executed handstand, and then you’re either doing it or you’re not. The writing example is very different. The difference between a great memo and an average one is much squishier. It would be extremely hard to write down the detailed requirements that make up a great memo. Nevertheless, I find that much of the time, readers react to great memos very similarly. They know it when they see it. The standard is there, and it is real, even if it’s not easily describable.

Here’s what we’ve figured out. Often, when a memo isn’t great, it’s not the writer’s inability to recognize the high standard, but instead a wrong expectation on scope: they mistakenly believe a high-standards, six-page memo can be written in one or two days or even a few hours, when really it might take a week or more! They’re trying to perfect a handstand in just two weeks, and we’re not coaching them right. The great memos are written and re-written, shared with colleagues who are asked to improve the work, set aside for a couple of days, and then edited again with a fresh mind. They simply can’t be done in a day or two. The key point here is that you can improve results through the simple act of teaching scope – that a great memo probably should take a week or more.

Random Thoughts . . .

Personal Web Site

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]]>1:06:57Shawn and Troy talk about and open source game, some social studies tools and more. Dave takes a Stream Selfie.Shawn and Troy talk about and open source game, some social studies tools and more. Dave takes a Stream Selfie.advisory, MSM, PodcastTroy Patterson, Shawn McGirrnonoMSM 388: Repetition, Repetition, Repetition, Retrieve this for great success!http://middleschoolmatters.com/?p=3409
Sat, 21 Apr 2018 16:57:43 +0000http://middleschoolmatters.com/?p=3409

Jokes You Can Use:

Did you hear about the auto body shop that just opened?

It comes highly wreck-a-mended.

Why did the invisible man turn down the job offer?

Because he just couldn’t see himself doing it.

I just ended a long-term relationship today. I’m not too bothered, it wasn’t mine.

To this day, the boy that used to bully me at school still takes my lunch money. On the plus side, he makes great Subway sandwiches.

I won $3 million on the lottery this weekend so I decided to donate a quarter of it to charity. Now I have $2,999,999.75.

I saw a sign that said “Watch for children” and I thought, “That sounds like a fair trade”.

Resources:

“This book is for teachers interested in incorporating interaction online into their teaching. Interaction Online is a valuable resource for anyone who wants to incorporate an aspect of online interaction in their language teaching. It is relevant for use with online, blended or face-to-face courses and appropriate for a wide range of teachers and learning contexts. This handbook contains over 75 tried and tested activities, the majority of which can be carried out either synchronously or asynchronously.”

Great Books for Middle School Book Clubs

This year our collection topped more than 70 titles to choose from and after I shared a snapshot of some of them on Instagram, I was asked for a list. So here you are, our most-selected books from our book club selection, as well as a few new favorites for next year. Note, that some of these are more mature, for the more mature titles, students need parental permission to read them.

NASA Wavelength:

This site provides a full spectrum of NASA resources for earth and space science education. NASA Wavelength is your pathway into a digital collection of Earth and space science resources for educators of all levels – from elementary to college, to out-of-school programs. These resources, developed through funding of the NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD), have undergone a peer-review process through which educators and scientists ensure the content is accurate and useful in an educational setting. Use NASA Wavelength to quickly and easily locate resources, connect them to other websites using atom feeds, and even share the resources you discover with others through social media and email.

Open Heritage

Web Spotlight:

“Join teachers around the world and take part in the World Teacher Survey. Have your voice heard and help make teaching better for everyone!” (Yes, it is probably someone’s research for their next book, but you might as well have fun with it!)

Why I cringe every time I hear the term Digital Literacy

So here is why I want to cringe. What students don’t possess most often is a not digital literacy, but rather digital fluency.

Fluency is different than literacy because the former is simply making meaning of something and the latter is the important concept of transfer of knowledge – it’s where digital savviness begins to grow from a seedling to a beautiful blossoming tree.

“A literate person is perfectly capable of using the tools. They know how to use them and what to do with them, but the outcome is less likely to match their intention. It is not until that person reaches a level of fluency, however, that they are comfortable with when to use the tools to achieve the desired outcome, and even why the tools they are using are likely to have the desired outcome at all.”

Random Thoughts . . .

Personal Web Site

Click the Play button below to listen to the show!

]]>1:13:37Shawn and Troy share thoughts about Repetition and why you should use it. Dave has 13 tips Project Based LearningShawn and Troy share thoughts about Repetition and why you should use it. Dave has 13 tips Project Based Learningadvisory, MSM, PodcastTroy Patterson, Shawn McGirrnonoMSM 387: Put On Your Chair Slippers and Ctrl-Tab Your Ears For The Show!http://middleschoolmatters.com/?p=3403
Sat, 31 Mar 2018 16:53:04 +0000http://middleschoolmatters.com/?p=3403Jokes You Can Use:

If a firefighter has two eyes, what does a ballerina have?

Two Too/Tutu

What’s invisible and smells like carrots?

Bunny farts.

Fountain Pen jokes:

What newspaper does a fountain pen read? The New York Tines.

Two fountain pens walked into an ice cream shop, the third one ducked.

I heard Lamy was going to develop a new Velcro pen, but they thought it might get ripped off.

I used to get a small shock whenever I touched my pens. Needless to say, I’m ex-static.

Did you hear about the new anti-gravity pen? It’s impossible to grab one!

Why wasn’t the fountain pen popular on Instagram? It wouldn’t post.

Wanna hear a joke about a broken nib? Nevermind, it’s pointless.

What do you call a factory that makes adequate pens? A satisfactory

Did you hear they’re going to have a new outdoor pen show? It’s supposed to be in tents!

What are the worst fountain pens made? Vacuum fillers, because they suck.

A duck walks into a pen store to get a new pen and says “just put it on my bill”.

I have an entire drawer filled with pen caps. They look so lonely there, because they have no body.

I keep looking for camouflage pens, but I can’t seem to find any.

I was considering becoming a nibmeister, but I heard it’s a grind.

Did you hear about the new apocalypse pen? They’re selling like there’s no tomorrow!

OK GO! Video

Yale’s Most Popular Class Ever and What We Can Learn from It

A few years ago, psychology professor, Laurie Santos, proposed a new elective class at Yale University. She believed it would be a helpful and relevant course for students. No one had any idea how popular it would become.

The Power of Yet

Middle School Science Minute

Density of Pop

I was recently reading the January, 2018 issue of “Science Scope,” a magazine written for middle school science teachers, published by the National Science Teachers Association.

In this issue, I read the the Disequilibrium section, “Why is regular soda denser than diet soda,” written by Todd Hoover. The article helps teachers design a 5E Unit to help students visualize the differences between the densities of diet and regular soda/pop and learn about the nutritional differences between the two.

Resources:

NASA SCAN

Google Go Phone

“Android Go is a special configuration of Android Oreo designed for lower-end mobile devices, particularly those with less than 1GB of RAM. It features a number of stripped-down UI elements and variants of traditional Google apps made to optimize memory usage.”

Web Spotlight:

Google Tips

CRTL | SHIFT | T – reopens closed tabs (useful as you are walking around and want to see what the students just closed)

Extensity – quick turn Google Chrome Extensions on or off (important because each extension that is running will take resources. Extensions can also cause conflicts.)

Rename a link – paste a web site into a Google Doc. Click on it once and pick “Change”. Make the text more user friendly (also ADA compliant).

Randomize your class or Groups without an add-on (Create a Google Sheet with names (via form or class list), Freeze the top row (header), Highlight columns, Click on Data | Randomize range)

Chrome tabs: CTRL | Number to go to that tab. (1-8, 9 will go to the last tab)

CRTL | Tab will switch windows

Random Thoughts . . .

Personal Web Site

Click the Play button below to listen to the show!

]]>1:07:49Jokes You Can Use:
If a firefighter has two eyes, what does a ballerina have?
Two Too/Tutu
What’s invisible and smells like carrots?
Bunny farts.
Fountain Pen jokes:
What newspaper does a fountain pen read? Th[...]Jokes You Can Use:
If a firefighter has two eyes, what does a ballerina have?
Two Too/Tutu
What’s invisible and smells like carrots?
Bunny farts.
Fountain Pen jokes:
What newspaper does a fountain pen read? The New York Tines.
Two fountain pens walked into an ice cream shop, the third one ducked.
I heard Lamy was going to develop a new Velcro pen, but they thought it might get ripped off.
I used to get a small shock whenever I touched my pens. Needless to say, I’m ex-static.
Did you hear about the new anti-gravity pen? It’s impossible to grab one!
Why wasn’t the fountain pen popular on Instagram? It wouldn’t post.
Wanna hear a joke about a broken nib? Nevermind, it’s pointless.
What do you call a factory that makes adequate pens? A satisfactory
Did you hear they’re going to have a new outdoor pen show? It’s supposed to be in tents!
What are the worst fountain pens made? Vacuum fillers, because they suck.
A duck walks into a pen store to get a new pen and says “just put it on my bill”.
I have an entire drawer filled with pen caps. They look so lonely there, because they have no body.
I keep looking for camouflage pens, but I can’t seem to find any.
I was considering becoming a nibmeister, but I heard it’s a grind.
Did you hear about the new apocalypse pen? They’re selling like there’s no tomorrow!
Advisory:
If the person who named Walkie, Talkies…
Stamps = Lickie Stickie
Defibrillators = Hearty Starty
Bumble bees = Fuzzy Buzzy
Fork= Stabby Grabby
Socks = Feetie Heatie
Hippo = Floatie Bloatie
Nightmare = Screamy Dreamy
*Warning, some of the suggestions by others are NSFW.
https://twitter.com/i/moments/978351623662694400
OK GO! Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWGJA9i18Co&ibss=1
Yale’s Most Popular Class Ever and What We Can Learn from It
A few years ago, psychology professor, Laurie Santos, proposed a new elective class at Yale University. She believed it would be a helpful and relevant course for students. No one had any idea how popular it would become.
It’s a class on happiness.
https://growingleaders.com/blog/yales-popular-class-ever-can-learn/
WOOP
WOOP stands for Wish, Outcome, Obstacle, and Plan.
It’s a practical, accessible, evidence-based activity that helps students find and fulfill their wishes. In character development terms, WOOP builds self-control.
Good curriculum to start kids planning and making things happen. WOOP includes lots of resources to help teachers plan. Also includes workbooks for students.
Free.
https://www.characterlab.org/woop/
The Power of Yet
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLeUvZvuvAs
Middle School Science Minute
by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or davidbydlowski@mac.com)
Density of Pop
I was recently reading the January, 2018 issue of “Science Scope,” a magazine written for middle school science teachers, published by the National Science Teachers Association.
In this issue, I read the the Disequilibrium section, “Why is regular soda denser than diet soda,” written by Todd Hoover. The article helps teachers design a 5E Unit to help students visualize the differences between the densities of diet and regular soda/pop and learn about the nutritional differences between the two.
http://k12science.net/Podcast/Podcast/Entries/2018/3/23_Middle_School_Science_Minute__Density_of_Pop.html
From the Twitterverse:
Alex Corbitt‏ @Alex_Corbitt
8 Final Exam Alternatives (by @finleyt) #edchat #education #eLearning #edtech #ukedchat #AussieEd
Susie Highley‏ @shighley
I know a lot of Ts who do special activities the afternoons of testing; schedules are already disrupted, so it’s a great time to do genius hour, Breakout EDU, etc. #INeLearn
Eric Curts‏ @ericcurts
Random Writing Prompt Generator with Google Sheets http://www.controlaltachieve.com/2016/04/writing-prompt-generator.html … #edtech
james sturtevant‏ @jamessturtevant
http://bit.ly/2[...]advisory, MSM, PodcastTroy Patterson, Shawn McGirrnonoMSM 386: Let’s have a rathole party!http://middleschoolmatters.com/?p=3399
Sat, 24 Mar 2018 23:35:24 +0000http://middleschoolmatters.com/?p=3399

Lyrics:

Middle School Science Minute

Learning Through Assessments

I was recently reading the January, 2018 issue of “Science Scope,” a magazine written for middle school science teachers, published by the National Science Teachers Association.

In this issue, I read the the Editor’s Desk article, “Engaging Students in Learning Through Assessment,” written by Patty McGinnis the Editor of Science Scope. In her article, she discusses how assessment is more than an indication of student progress, it can also be a powerful method for engaging students in active learning.

3 critical questions when it comes to transforming learning: Why should we innovate? How will we successfully implement innovative practices? What critieria and evidence will be used to determine success and efficacy?#LT8Keys#empower18#leadered

ScratchWork

Collaborative online whiteboard that is focused on math. This site does LaTeX well. You can write the LaTeX expressions, but more impressively, you can just draw the equation and it will convert it. Solves expressions as well.

Lessons for Movies

Web Spotlight:

Follow host Mike Rowe as he travels the country in search of remarkable people making a difference in their communities. Returning the Favor . . . Recognized by the Got Your 6 Foundation for dispelling stereotypes of post-war veterans. Some clips are 6-10 minutes long making them a nice fit for the classroom and advisory. Could even put them in Moodle with an H5P editor for formative assessment and then a single threaded forum for discussion. The show is in its second season on Facebook Watch, so you may need to use some “creativity” in getting this to your classroom . . .

Random Thoughts . . .

Personal Web Site

Click the Play button below to listen to the show!

]]>1:04:21
Jokes You Can Use:
Did you hear about the guy whose left side got cut off?
It’s OK, he’s “all right” now.
I couldn’t figure out why the baseball kept getting larger.
And then it hit me.
[...]
Jokes You Can Use:
Did you hear about the guy whose left side got cut off?
It’s OK, he’s “all right” now.
I couldn’t figure out why the baseball kept getting larger.
And then it hit me.
What do you called an angry carrot?
A steamed vegetable.
What kind of music is scary for balloons?
Pop music
What kind of dog doesn’t bark?
A hush puppy
Hyphenated
Non-hyphenated
Irony?
Advisory:
Cartoon Sounds
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3&v=m1Xh_VU3jXA
Commercials
http://www.adweek.com/creativity/this-look-inside-spike-jonzes-apple-ad-is-as-fascinating-as-the-film-itself/
The March of Our Lives
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=jnFd35I0YrA
Lyrics:
https://genius.com/Ben-platt-and-lin-manuel-miranda-found-tonight-lyrics
Middle School Science Minute
by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or davidbydlowski@mac.com)
Learning Through Assessments
I was recently reading the January, 2018 issue of “Science Scope,” a magazine written for middle school science teachers, published by the National Science Teachers Association.
In this issue, I read the the Editor’s Desk article, “Engaging Students in Learning Through Assessment,” written by Patty McGinnis the Editor of Science Scope. In her article, she discusses how assessment is more than an indication of student progress, it can also be a powerful method for engaging students in active learning.
http://k12science.net/Podcast/Podcast/Entries/2018/3/13_Middle_School_Science_Minute__Learning_Through_Assessments.html
From the Twitterverse:
Alex Corbitt‏ @Alex_Corbitt
5 Tips for Managing Student Paperwork (+ Tip #6: Go Digital!) (by @finleyt) #edchat #education #elearning #edtech #ukedchat #aussieED
Chuck Poole‏ @cpoole27
A teacher’s influence is one that never truly ends. It is an ever present force that helps build character, strength, and wisdom for years to come. #JoyfulLeaders
Eric Sheninger‏Verified account @E_Sheninger
3 critical questions when it comes to transforming learning: Why should we innovate? How will we successfully implement innovative practices? What critieria and evidence will be used to determine success and efficacy? #LT8Keys #empower18 #leadered
Frank Spencer‏ @Frankwspencer
District arms teachers with rocks in case of school shooter | WPXI https://t.co/kKbtABsIBL
Teresa Gross ‏ @teresagross625
I am getting ready to launch a couple of twitter book studies soon. #pd4uandme
#mschat every Thursday at 8:00 pm Eastern Standard Time. And as Troy says, “The Twitter never stops!”
Strategies:
Resources:
Hypothes.is – Middle School Matters Group:
Feel free to help us bookmark and annotate the show. Or create your own group to collaborate or annotate across the web.
https://hypothes.is/groups/KD6PYn6X/middle-school-matters
SoundBible
SoundBible.com offers free sound clips for download in either wav or mp3 format. We offer free and royalty free sound effects and clips for video editors, movie scores, game designers, and weekend sound warriors.
Downloads are totally free and upfront with large download buttons to prevent confusion.
http://soundbible.com/
ScratchWork
Collaborative online whiteboard that is focused on math. This site does LaTeX well. You can write the LaTeX expressions, but more impressively, you can just draw the equation and it will convert it. Solves expressions as well.
Free version:
Math equations are downloaded as images.
4 boards for free
Basic math recognition
PDF export with watermark
https://app.scratchwork.io/
Lessons for Movies
http://www.lessonsonmovies.com/
Web Spotlight:
Returning the Favor – Mike Rowe
Follow host Mike Rowe as he travels the country in search of remarkable people making a difference in their communities. Returning the Favor[...]MSM, PodcastTroy Patterson, Shawn McGirrnonoMSM 385: By the Numbers: 59-7-7-23-0-10-1/5http://middleschoolmatters.com/?p=3395
Sun, 11 Mar 2018 03:47:10 +0000http://middleschoolmatters.com/?p=3395

Jokes You Can Use:

I find that whiteboards are remarkable.

I love painting. I’ll paint almost anything. Anything, except horizons. That’s where I draw the line.

Why couldn’t the life guards save the hippie?

He was too far out.

If you send an e-mail to someone in jail, are you allowed to attach a file?

Two men walk into a bar. You’d think one of them would have seen it.

Why do you only need one egg in french?

Because in french, one egg is an œuf.

What did the elephant keep in his glove compartment?

Nothing. He only had a trunk.

The past, present, and future all walk into an ice cream shop at the same time.

It was tense.

“When I was a kid, I always told my friends and family that I wanted to grow up to be a comedian. They all laughed at me! Well, they’re not laughing now!”

A guy came up to me and said, “Nothing rhymes with orange.” And I thought, “No it doesn’t”.

Rick Astley will give you anything you ask for; just name it and he’ll give it to you. Anything, except his favorite Pixar movie.

“All good stories have a twist, and all great storytellers are just a little twisted. Join Mike Rowe for a different take on the people an events that you thought you knew — from pop-culture to politics from Hollywood to History . . . The Way I Heard It with Mike Rowe — short mysteries for the curious mind with a short attention span.”

7 Thinking Patterns That Will That Rob You of Mental Strength (And What You Can Do About Them)

Just because you think something doesn’t make it true. Yet, you likely believe your brain when it casts doubt on your abilities or when it tells you that people don’t like you even though there’s little evidence supporting such statements.

Resources:

Google’s Android P is dropping support for Nexus tablets and only supports that last two versions of Pixel products. Is it a move to go to ChromeOS for everything or the end of the Google tablet as we knew it?

Free Rice Vocabulary Game

Freerice is still working (as of summer 2017). Each time you answer a question right, the banner ad that you see generates enough money for the World Food Programme to buy 10 grains of rice to help reach Zero Hunger.

Photos For Class

Teachers have told us they need a place to access safe images that are available to be used in the classroom and for educational purposes. Plus, they want accurate image citations. We’ve heard you and created “Photos For Class” to meet your needs for images!

Age Appropriate Images – All images are appropriate for the school setting, thanks to Flickr and Pixabay SafeSearch and our proprietary filters – Read More

Web Spotlight:

Nearly one-in-five Americans now listen to audiobooks

About three-quarters (74%) of Americans have read a book in the past 12 months in any format, a figure that has remained largely unchanged since 2012, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted in January. Print books remain the most popular format for reading, with 67% of Americans having read a print book in the past year.

Print books remain the most popular format for reading, with 67% of Americans having read a print book in the past year.

How to Find Public Domain Videos on Flickr

Random Thoughts . . .

Personal Web Site

Click the Play button below to listen to the show!

]]>1:07:10Shawn and Troy host a number themed show. Dave finishes up his excellent series with segment number 7.Shawn and Troy host a number themed show. Dave finishes up his excellent series with segment number 7.advisory, MSMTroy Patterson, Shawn McGirrnonoMSM 384: Middle School Under The FoldScopehttp://middleschoolmatters.com/?p=3389
Sat, 03 Mar 2018 23:34:57 +0000http://middleschoolmatters.com/?p=3389

Jokes You Can Use:

A guy was an ice cream store and needed to fart. He decided the music was so loud that he just went for it and timed his farts to the beat of the music. After he relieved himself he looked up to see everyone staring at him. Than he realized that he was listening to his iPod.

What happens to a frog’s car when it breaks down?

It gets toad away.

Q: What did the duck say when he bought lipstick?

A: “Put it on my bill.”

Instead of “the John,” I call my toilet “the Jim.” That way it sounds better when I say I go to the Jim first thing every morning.

Q: What starts with E, ends with E, and has only 1 letter in it?

envelope

Advisory:

Speaker

Could show the video. There is also a link to download a book (email address needed, but no confirmation).

Strategies:

Mentally Strong Kids Have Parents Who Refuse to Do These 13 Things

Resources:

FoldScopes

Foldscope is an ultra-affordable, paper-based microscope that you assemble yourself. It is designed to be inexpensive, durable, and give optical quality similar to conventional research microscopes. With magnification of 140X and resolution of 2 microns, Foldscope brings microscopy to new places.

Our Mission is to produce low-cost scientific tools to globally expand access to science. We aim to break down the price barrier between people and the curiosity & excitement of scientific exploration.

National Teacher Institute – Civil War Trust

Our annual National Teacher Institute brings together educators from all over the world. This four-day event includes workshops, lectures, and tours from some of the leading experts in the history and education fields. Educators will be immersed in a friendly, fun, and engaging learning environment, where they will be able to network with other educators while learning new and innovative teaching methods.

This event is free but does require a $100, refundable, deposit be placed to reserve your spot. At the conclusion of the event, educators can apply for continuing education credits, provided by Virginia Tech University.

Web Spotlight:

Research: Children see words and faces differently from adults

Intuitively, if you want to get a good look at something – a word, a face, or pretty much anything else – you ought to look straight at it, and indeed that’s basically what adults do.

But the situation is different in children. For one thing, children’s circuits for words process a different region of the visual field, one that is shifted down and to the right, compared to adults. That means that in order to process words most efficiently, kids would need to look a bit up and to the left.

Random Thoughts . . .

Personal Web Site

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]]>0:57:40Jokes You Can Use:
A guy was an ice cream store and needed to fart. He decided the music was so loud that he just went for it and timed his farts to the beat of the music. After he relieved himself he looked up to see everyone staring at hi[...]Jokes You Can Use:
A guy was an ice cream store and needed to fart. He decided the music was so loud that he just went for it and timed his farts to the beat of the music. After he relieved himself he looked up to see everyone staring at him. Than he realized that he was listening to his iPod.
What happens to a frog’s car when it breaks down?
It gets toad away.
Q: What did the duck say when he bought lipstick?
A: “Put it on my bill.”
Instead of “the John,” I call my toilet “the Jim.” That way it sounds better when I say I go to the Jim first thing every morning.
Q: What starts with E, ends with E, and has only 1 letter in it?
envelope
Advisory:
Speaker
Could show the video. There is also a link to download a book (email address needed, but no confirmation).
https://topyouthspeakers.com/djf
Middle School Science Minute
by Dave Bydlowski (k12science or davidbydlowski@mac.com)
Lifelong Kindergarten: Part 6
This is the sixth in a seven part podcast series on the book, “Lifelong Kindergarten,” written by Mitchel Resnick.
This sixth podcast focuses in on chapter five in the book, “Play.” In chapter five, Mitchel emphasizes:
Playfulness
Playpens and Playgrounds
Tinkering
Many Paths, Many Styles
Try Try Again
Tensions and Tradeoffs: Assessment
http://k12science.net/Podcast/Podcast/Entries/2018/3/1_Middle_School_Science_Minute__Lifelong_Kindergarten_Part_6.html
From the Twitterverse:
Todd Bloch‏ @blocht574
We all have them (bad days), here are the instructions to get to the other side! From @shanekoyczan https://youtu.be/V7OGY1Jxp3o #mschat #michED
Shelly Sanchez‏ @ShellTerrell
Mission: Create an ebook for a classmate https://buff.ly/2HLOCmt by @AnthippiHarou #EduGoalsMooc #edtechmissions #edchat
Jerry Blumengarten‏ @cybraryman1
A1 Technology gives us the ability to collaborate easily with others to create meaningful PD. Need to use it more for PD. My Professional Development page https://cybraryman.com/profdevelop.html … My Professional Learning page https://cybraryman.com/proflearning.html … #satchat #edchat
Julie Woodard‏ @woodard_julie
Why is student voice important? Why listen?? We know listening to Ss increases S achievement, engagement, ownership & learning..we know listening celebrates S value! Why do YOU think Student Voice is important.. ???…. …. what can you add to the discussion??
Meredith Johnson‏ @mjjohnson1216
A3. This graphic continues the same theme that clearly shows what we tried in the past that never worked and how we are trying to improve without PD now (still room for growth) #satchat
Eileen Stocco‏ @EileenStocco
Love this shirt…and, of course, this kid! @TMSGamma
Anthony Whitaker‏ @Antnee07
Another barrier down! #BDBblog @TJParrish28 @KyleHamstra @tamipoland @bosstetter_edu @lmkinard @darrickmcneill3 @jswartzwoman @nathan_stevens @AdminSmith @AnueVision @Angela_Watson @Brhyne39H https://barriers.blog/2018/02/28/breaking-down-barriers-2/amp/?__twitter_impression=true …
Julie P. Jones, PhD‏ @JuliePJones
We keep telling teachers they have to teach differently, but we train the same. Change and innovation can’t be fully realized until we change the way we model- the way we PD #satchat
𝒟𝒶𝓃 𝑀𝒸𝒞𝒶𝒷𝑒 ‏ @danieldmccabe
Using Technology Vs. Technology Integration #satchat
#mschat every Thursday at 8:00 pm Eastern Standard Time. And as Troy says, “The Twitter never stops!”
Strategies:
Mentally Strong Kids Have Parents Who Refuse to Do These 13 Things
https://www.parent.com/mentally-strong-kids-have-parents-who-refuse-to-do-these-13-things/
Resources:
FoldScopes
Foldscope is an ultra-affordable, paper-based microscope that you assemble yourself. It is designed to be inexpensive, durable, and give optical quality similar to conventional research microscopes. With magnification of 140X and resolution of 2 microns,[...]advisory, MSM, PodcastTroy Patterson, Shawn McGirrnonoMSM 383: Totally Accurate Podcast! Unpronounceable. Imagination. Differentiation.http://middleschoolmatters.com/?p=3380
Sat, 24 Feb 2018 18:06:41 +0000http://middleschoolmatters.com/?p=3380

Jokes You Can Use:

Forward I’m heavy, backward I’m not. What am ?

ton

A man has a bee in his hand. What’s in his eye?

Beauty

What tastes better than it smells?

Tongue

Imagine you’re in a dark room with no windows and a locked door. How do you get out?

Imagine you have a key

I’m light as a feather, but the longer you hold me, the harder I am to keep. What am I?

Breath

Two fathers and their two sons go hunting in the woods. They each shoot a rabbit and bring it home. They don’t lose any rabbits but only have three when they arrive. How is that possible?

Three generations.

Advisory:

Words:

Kummerspeck (German) – weight gained from emotional overeating

Tartle (Scots) – The feeling of hesitation right before you have to introduce someone whose name you don’t remember

Mamihlapinatapai (Yaghan language of Tierra del Fuego) – the look shared between two people when both want the other to do something they both want, but neither want to do first

Backpfeifengesicht (German) – a super punchable face

Pelinti (Guli, Ghana) – to move hot food around in your mouth

Yuputka (Ulwa) – the phantom feeling of something crawling on your skin, like when you’re walking alone in the woods

Zhaghzhagh (Persian) – the chattering of teeth from the cold or from anger

Lagom (Swedish) – just right (not too much, not too little)

Seigneur-terraces (French) – café patrons who sit at the shop for a long time but don’t spend much money

Luftmensch (Yiddish) – an impractical dreamer

Sobremesa (Spanish) – happy, relaxed conversation that you partake in after a good dinner and drinks with friends

Shemomedjamo (Georgian) – translates to “I accidentally ate the whole thing,” when you’re really full but you can’t stop eating

Gigil (Filipino) – wanting to pinch something super cute

Pana Po’o (Hawaiian) – to scratch your head to help you remember something

Greng-jai (Thai) – The feeling of not wanting to ask for a favor because it will be a pain for the other person

Iktsuarpok (Inuit) – the feeling of anticipation when you’re waiting for someone to show up at your house

Koi No Yokan (Japanese) – Upon meeting a person, the immediate feeling that you two are going to fall in love

There seems to be a lot of talk about choice/voice around differentiation – while it’s helpful for Ts to consider S interests. Differentiated instruction is largely planned an intentional to allow all students to reach the same learning goal – maybe in different ways.#satchat

Strategies:

An unexpectedly positive result from arts-focused field trips

The surprising result is that students who received multiple field trips experienced significantly greater gains on their standardized test scores after the first year than did the control students.

The treatment and control groups do not differ in their baseline test results and otherwise appear similar, so these changes seem to be the result of the treatment.

We still do not believe that arts instruction and experiences have a direct effect on math or ELA ability. We think this because the bulk of prior research tells us so, and because it is simply implausible that two extra field trips to an arts organization conveyed a significant amount of math and ELA knowledge.

Our best guess is that test scores may have risen because the extra arts activities increased student interest and engagement in school.

Maybe arts-focused field trips do not teach math or reading, but they do make students more interested in their school that does teach math and reading.

The odd thing about trying to write a paper with these results to present at conferences and submit to a journal is that there is strong pressure for us to pretend like we expected our findings all along. Discussants and reviewers generally don’t want to hear that you found something you didn’t expect and don’t really know why.

Resources:

Simple Articulation Strategy: 5 Ins and 5 Outs

As I researched articulation strategies, I found “5 Ins and 5 Outs” mentioned in a Teaching Channel video. The basic idea is that teachers identify 5 “outs” or skills students will master by the time they leave their class. These “outs” become the “ins” for the next grade level. So, if I say that students will leave my 9th grade English class able to “correctly cite strong textual evidence that supports analysis” then the 10th-grade teachers can feel confident that the incoming sophomores will be able to demonstrate that skill.

It was interesting to work with a room full of 6-8 grade English language arts teachers as they worked on their ins and outs. A few things became clear:

We worked collaboratively on a shared Google Document so teachers could see the outs for the previous grade, ask questions, and make suggestions. The conversations about what teachers were seeing in terms of skills at the start of the school year helped to refine the outs for the previous year.

StoryMap JS

Anchor

Web Spotlight:

Is Gates America’s Dumbest Smart Guy?

If you glanced at EdWeek’s Teacher Beat blog last week, you could be forgiven for thinking that Bill Gates had joined the growing list of tech “regrets” writers. It’s a cool new writing genre in which some longtime techy reformster announces that he’s had an epiphany and realized all by himself that there’s something fundamentally ineffective, misguided and just plain wrong with the baloney he’s been frying up lo these many years.

If we look at last fall’s speech (both the pre-speech PR and the actual edited-down version he delivered), we can see that Gates knows he’s supposed to be learning things, that a shift in direction and emphasis needs to look like a pivot based on a learning curve, and not just flailing off blindly in another direction because the previous flails didn’t turn out like you hoped (against all evidence and advice) they would.

What looks on the surface like an admission of failure turns out to be an assignment of blame. Small schools, teacher evaluation, merit pay, and the ever-unloved Common Core have all been a bust, and yet somehow, their failure is never the result of a flawed design, a bad concept, or being flat-out wrong about the whole picture. What Gates invariably announces he’s “learned” is that he was basically correct, but he underestimated just how unready people were to welcome his rightness, and he needs to tweak a few features.

Now, if I order miracle hair grower on line and I use it, and my hair doesn’t grow back, I might be inclined to question whether or not the hair grower was as miraculous as it claimed. If I had a great system for improving teachers, and I used it, and it didn’t look like it worked, I might question whether my brilliant ideas were really brilliant or not. In short, I might wonder if I weren’t, you know, wrong. But not Gates. He gives us the three measures for success– good pilot, self-sustaining system, and spreading to other locations. Then he provides the excuses for why his teacher system failed all three.

Totally Accurate History

Kids say the darndest things! From explaining the extinction of the dinosaurs to detailing the bizarre history of the waffle, these precocious teachers are way more entertaining than a textbook… and maybe even a tiny bit right.

Advisory:

He finished in fourth place. No-man’s land. No medals. “No glory,” as Baumgartner said with an accepting smile.

“Fourth place!” Baumgartner said to his son. “The wooden spoon. Just think how famous you would be at school, if I was on the podium.”

Baumgartner has taught his son to savor every second, to squeeze everything out of every opportunity. Baumgartner plans to stay the duration of the Games to show his son “the full on Olympic experience.”

Resources:

Reach for Greatness: Personalizable Education for All Children by Yong Zhao

How do you close the achievement gap? Start by changing the question.

When we use the achievement gap to define success, we shortchange our students. It’s time to recognize that the potential for greatness lies in a unique form within each child―and that the goal of education should be to encourage and develop it. This inspiring manifesto brings in research from different disciplines and demonstrates how to uncover individual greatness by giving students control of their learning. You’ll also find:

Strategies for implementing personalizable education

Examples showing practices that have gone wrong―and right

Guidance for teaching disadvantaged students

Personalized Learning Vs Personalization of Learning

…the idea of “personalization of learning,” meaning more in how does the teacher understand the student, build on their interests, and create learning opportunities for the student3. I can get behind this idea.

The personalization of learning creates the opportunity for more depth and authenticity, whereas “personalized learning” seems to be more about knowing the “stuff”.

Web Spotlight:

John Spencer

“As you know, I am a huge fan of the design thinking process. And, for that reason, my friend Jochem Goedhals (who I met in the Netherlands) and I want to get a sense for how educators use design thinking and design processes as they develop, implement, and improve their practice.

This is part of the initial research we are doing on a book that Jochem and I will be writing in the future. This survey will be part of what drives our research and writing.

It’s a quick survey and it would mean the world to me if you took the time to fill it out.”

Random Thoughts . . .

Personal Web Site

Click the Play button below to listen to the show!

]]>1:02:23Troy and Shawn wonder about a bunch of educational stuff. Dave continues his excellent series on Lifelong Kindergarten with Part 4.Troy and Shawn wonder about a bunch of educational stuff. Dave continues his excellent series on Lifelong Kindergarten with Part 4.advisory, MSM, PodcastTroy Patterson, Shawn McGirrnonoMSM 381: Avoiding the Binary, But Not the Struggles.http://middleschoolmatters.com/?p=3365
Sun, 11 Feb 2018 19:41:48 +0000http://middleschoolmatters.com/?p=3365

Jokes You Can Use:

Why were the Cincinnati Bengals were the last NFL team to get a website?

They had trouble stringing three W’s together.

Why did the dude only lift weights on Saturday and Sunday?

The other days are week days.

What happened to the lumberjack who slept like a log on the job?

He got axed.

Why did the student write all of his answers as such:

llllll lllll lllll lllll llll

The student wrote the answers in bar code so no one could cheat.

My wife broke my lamp. Now, I’ll never be able to see her in the same light again.

Advisory:

Rather than glory in this victory, indeed, he was keen to talk about harder times. “I think the big thing [to tell people] is ‘don’t be afraid to fail’. I think in our society today, you know, Instagram, Twitter, it’s a highlight reel. It’s all the good things. Then when you look at it, then you think like, ‘wow’, when you had a rough day or your life’s not as good as that, you’re failing.

“And failure’s a part of life, that’s a part of building character, and growing. Without failure, who would you be? I wouldn’t be up here if I hadn’t fallen a thousand times, made mistakes. We all are human, we have weaknesses, and throughout this being able to share that and be transparent.

“I know that when I listen to people speak, and they share their weaknesses, I’m listening because I can resonate. So, I’m not perfect, I’m not Superman. I might be in the NFL, and we might have just won the Super Bowl, but I still have daily struggles … And that’s really just been the message, simple. If something’s going on in your life and you’re struggling, embrace it, because you’re growing.”

Phone-addicted teens are unhappy

Teens whose eyes are habitually glued to their smartphones are markedly unhappier, said study lead author and San Diego State University and professor of psychology Jean M. Twenge.

“Although this study can’t show causation, several other studies have shown that more social media use leads to unhappiness, but unhappiness does not lead to more social media use,” said Twenge, author of “iGen: Why Today’s Super-Connected Kids Are Growing Up Less Rebellious, More Tolerant, Less Happy–And Completely Unprepared for Adulthood.”

Looking at historical trends from the same age groups since the 1990s, the researchers found that the proliferation of screen devices over time coincided with a general drop-off in reported happiness in U.S. teens. Specifically, young people’s life satisfaction, self-esteem and happiness plummeted after 2012. That’s the year that the percentage of Americans who owned a smartphone rose above 50 percent, Twenge noted.

This middle school teacher allows all students to turn in late work—no matter how valid or invalid, good or bad, truthful or deceptive the reasons. Read about her philosophy and how students are held accountable.

Strategies:

Writing

Youtube Essays

YouTube video essays are long-form (relative to many other internet videos) critical videos that make arguments about media and culture. They’re usually meticulously narrated and edited, juxtaposing video footage, images, audio, and text to make an argument much like a writer would do in a traditional essay.

How Can They Be Used in Classrooms?

First, a caveat: Most of the channels below offer content that’ll work best in an upper-middle or high school classroom. Some videos can also be explicit, so you’ll want to do some browsing.

Conversation starter or lesson hook: Many of these videos serve as great two- to 10-minute introductions to topics relevant to classrooms across the curriculum.

Active viewing opportunity: Since video essays present often complex arguments, invite students to watch and rewatch videos and outline their theses, key points, and conclusions.

Research project: Have students find more examples that support, or argue against, a video’s argument. Students could also write a response to a video essay.

Copyright lesson: Video essays are a great example of fair use. Show students that by adding their own commentary, they can use copyrighted material responsibly.

Assessment: Have students create their own video essays to demonstrate learning or media-creation skills like editing.

Resources:

Cue Prompter

MentiMeter

Mentimeter is an easy-to-use presentation software used by more than 8 million people. With Mentimeter you can create fun and interactive presentations. We help you make your events, presentations, lectures, and workshops innovative and memorable.

The Strange Brands in Your Instagram Feed

The material has the softness of a Las Vegas carpet and the rich sheen of a velour jumpsuit. The fabric is so synthetic, it could probably be refined into bunker fuel for a ship.

What Ganon does is pick suppliers he’ll never know to ship products he’ll never touch. All his effort goes into creating ads to capture prospective customers, and then optimizing a digital environment that encourages them to buy whatever piece of crap he’s put in front of them.

Given the array of behavioral tricks arrayed against your average Internet user, some of them take the free lion bracelet deal. But for those that don’t, merely by visiting his site, they’ve been tagged in Facebook’s system because Ganon has installed a standard Facebook tracking pixel. That means Ganon can now re-target those people who visited but left without purchasing anything through Facebook. And he spends a lot of time designing and testing ads that will bring them back for the purchase.

Avoid Binary Thinking. Go To The Grey.

Much of what we do in education falls into grey areas. Yet, many of the conversations we have regarding education seem to use black and white statements and fall into the category of binary, or dichotomous, thinking. Binary thinking leads to look at ideas in education as right or wrong and good or bad. It can create an ‘us vs them’ mentality – “You are either with us or you are not!” It can also prevent engagement in the conversations we need to have.

Personalized Learning Vs Personalization of Learning

Laura presented the idea of “personalization of learning,” meaning more in how does the teacher understand the student, build on their interests, and create learning opportunities for the student. I can get behind this idea.

The personalization of learning creates the opportunity for more depth and authenticity, whereas “personalized learning” seems to be more about knowing the “stuff”.1